The Harris County (Texas) Sheriff’s Office performed the training last month using Humble Independent School District buses. District transportation employees and police participated in a simulated hostage takeover with students on board a school bus.

The suspects allegedly stole the bus from a lot in Crownsville, Maryland, struck a tower with it, broke the windows, crashed it in the woods, and attempted to set it on fire before abandoning it. The suspects were apparently under the influence of alcohol and were looking for change to buy cigarettes, police say.

After a parent entered a school bus without the driver’s permission, the superintendent of Manalapan-Englishtown (N.J.) Regional School District told parents in a letter that future incidents will prompt an incident report to the police, an investigation into whether charges should be filed, and revocation of bus privileges for all children of the parent for the remainder of the year.

A retired Missouri Highway Patrol Trooper conducted the seminar for Parkway School District bus drivers. He discussed being aware of one’s surroundings, never opening the bus door to a stranger, and communication and verbal deflection techniques.

Marian Moussa, who admitted to taking a 3-year-old girl from a Grand Rapids school bus and driving the child around for three hours before turning her over to police, was found not guilty of kidnapping and was sentenced to a year on probation. A jury member said the prosecution “overcharged” Moussa and they could not find that she intended to kidnap the child.

Marian Moussa allegedly claimed she was the mother of the girl, a special-needs student, so she could remove her from a school bus on Jan. 14, 2013. Moussa turned down a prosecution offer to plead guilty to unlawful imprisonment and resisting arrest, which carries a maximum 15-year prison term, while a kidnapping charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison, officials say.

The adults, along with two juveniles, allegedly took the school activity bus from the Richlands (Va.) High School campus and drove it onto the athletic field of Southwest Virginia Community College. Officials are looking into how one of the adults apparently obtained the keys used to operate the bus.

Donald L. Francis is charged with tampering with a motor vehicle in the first degree, a Class C felony, after allegedly stealing a North Wood R-IV (Mo.) School District bus. Francis admits to sheriff’s deputies that he was intoxicated and looking for a ride, found a school bus with keys in it, and drove to St. Clair, which is where authorities found the bus.

Our emphasis on training, awareness and commitment to safety/security must remain a priority for our industry, not for fear of being caught with our guard down, but because our guard should never be down.

False claims made against school bus drivers or other transportation staff have the potential to damage reputations and cause legal problems if a district or bus company is unable to prove what occurred during the incident in question. Equipping buses with cameras and DVRs can offer protection by providing undisputable evidence in these situations and others, such as accidents. Here's a roundup of the technology utilized by operations around the country.

After more than a year on hiatus, the government program is set to come back online soon to resume the training of transportation professionals in security awareness. Bill Arrington and Steve Sprague of the Transportation Security Administration discuss the ongoing efforts to launch First Observer 2.0.

On Wednesday, the one-year anniversary of the slaying of Alabama school bus driver Charles Poland Jr., the New York Association for Pupil Transportation paid tribute to Poland and announced steps it is taking to increase school bus security. For example, the association is supporting legislation that would make it a crime of criminal trespass to board a school bus without permission.

Investigations are underway and an arrest was made in unrelated school bus thefts in Oklahoma, Michigan and Louisiana in recent weeks. In at least two of the incidents, the keys were reportedly in the ignition when the buses were stolen.

Jonathan Modesitt is arrested following last week’s incident, in which Oregon State Police troopers say he dropped his pants after hitting the bus and tried to get on board with a gun. He faces multiple charges, including driving under the influence of intoxicants.

Premium Member

Get bus sales numbers, transportation statistics, bus specifications, industry survey results, bus loading and unloading fatality statistics and more in the School Bus Fleet Research Center. Become a premium member today!